Hampton, Va.- A Sailor assigned to the Gerald R. Ford died on Tuesday morning while he was running in Hampton.
The Navy has identified the Sailor as 35-year-old Chief Engineman Anthony Tuff.
The sailor was a Chief Petty Officer selectee and was participating in a training run at Fort Monrow as part of CPO 365 Phase 2 when he collapsed.
The sailor was treated on the scene and then taken to Sentara Hospital in Hampton where he later died.
The Ford Chiefs Mess honored Tuff by piping him into the Mess as one of 45 chief petty officers to join their ranks in a planned ceremony on Wednesday.
“The empty space you see in the ranks on the other side of the room, that’s Tony’s space,” said Ford Commanding Officer Capt. John F. Meier. “To the family who lost a son and a brother, to Matthew who lost a father, I can assure you that you gained an entire Chiefs Mess of men and women who will step in to fill the void as best they can.”
An investigation is ongoing.
The Gerald R. Ford is now under construction at Huntington Ingalls at the Newport News Shipyard.
